Chalice
by Scritto Eta
Summary: Carlisle and his family have enjoyed a few years of peace after their final confrontation with the Volturi, but the appearance of an old friend and his plea for help threatens to send them into war again. :: Set six years after Breaking Dawn.
1. Prologue

The setting and characters that are property to Stephanie Meyer and her Twilight saga are copyrighted to their respected parties. Additional characters are creations of my own.

I cannot say where this story will lead me. I have a vague idea but generally I let the characters decide.

* * *

An amber glow radiated from the south, alighting the black sky with orange and yellow smoke as it billowed upwards towards the heavens. The scent on the wind was that of death, an overpowering aroma that swept the senses entirely of at least two of the four forms darting through the thick, wooded forest. A crack erupted at the heel of their steps and a slight yelp of surprise sounded when one lithe form was picked up by another, the weight hardly mentioned in the pulling of muscles as they were carried, the speed of the chase increasing.

Francisco dared a glance over his shoulder, the endless night pierced by his vampiric gaze allowed him clear sight in untamed chaos. Trees began to tumble and fall in the ripple of their flight and he slowed just enough so that a female figure could match his step, her own speed hindered by the boy she carried on her back.

"We will get the children to safety. Sanvina you must take them to Rome, find our contacts and make route to America. I-"

"Shall do what?" Sanvina asked, her eyes burning in a blend of fury and pain. "Return to the sanctuary? Look for survivors? They are dead, all dead, and that is all you shall be returning to. Death." Her words were biting, acid to freshly made wounds; but Francisco knew them as true. "It would be wiser that we stay together, then we-"

Her words were silenced, cut short by her own scream as her swift run was halted by, what he could only imagine, a hand that had seized her from behind. There was a sickening crack or bones and flesh breaking and tearing, followed by the shout of a young man. The girl within Francisco's arms flinched before she tried, in failure, to free herself from his grip, managing only to crawl over his shoulder, outreaching her hands to whatever horror laid behind him. "Nicoli!"

"Look away, child." Francisco hugged her to his chest, daring not to stop and assist what was sure to be an already lost battle. "There's nothing we can do for them now."

She wept within his hold and Francisco could empathize; tonight, they had both lost everything.


	2. Chapter 1

The setting and characters that are property to Stephanie Meyer and her Twilight saga are copyrighted to their respected parties. Additional characters are creations of my own.

* * *

It was the clattering sound of a large planter being sat upon the granite tabletop that drew Carlisle from the morning paper and his thoughts altogether. His fingers carefully folded back the sharp edge, allowing his golden gaze to peer past the print to Esme as she drew in an unneeded breath. "Needing some help?"

"How kind of you to offer after I've already finished." She smiled, feigning fatigue as she took the chair opposite of him, curling her delicate fist to rest her chin upon. Carlisle chuckled softly as he sat his paper aside, leaving the unfolding events of the city for a later time. Light shined brightly and unobstructed through the large windows of the dinning room, the first sunny day in what seemed like so long brightened the nearly empty Cullen home, making it feel alive once more. The Cullens had been together under one roof for so long that it seemed almost awkward, even eerie to have such silence around the home, brief as it might turn out to be.

Carlisle offered his wife a gentle smile before he glanced briefly at the large, potted plant that she had, in the past few days, moved a dozen times already. The children's light absence had been hard on the both of them, but harder, it seemed, for their mother who was nothing short of restless since their departure. Edward and Bella had engaged in a long vacation after their graduation from college, leaving their nearly matured daughter in the care of her Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett. It had been difficult for Edward to convince Bella to leave Renesmee behind, though Carlisle ventured to say the decision was not one easily reached for his son either. But Edward, having lived the life of the perpetual immortal teenager, understood that, between lives, a break from life was often in order.

Rosalie didn't mind at all caring for her niece, whom she had been protective of even before birth, and Emmett relished in having someone around as energetic as he. The three of them had decided on an extended hiking trip per Alice's advice, who had promised Nessie that she and Jasper would join them as soon as they settled some business in Seattle.

Being left to their own desires was not a bad thing though, and Carlisle smirked handsomely at his wife of many years as the sunlight danced upon her skin, reaching gingerly across the table so that his fingers might brush against her glistening cheek. "You've been fidgety for a few days; why don't we meet up with the children and go camping? It will get us out of the house and-"

"Oh, you worry too much." she laughed softly as she leaned her face into his open palm, savoring his touch. "Let them have their fun for a few more days. I'm sure Rosalie will have everyone home before the weeks end and we'll be wishing for some quiet evenings to ourselves."

"Why wait until evening?" he asked, lofting a caramel brow, earning him one of her delightful giggles. "We have plenty of daylight left to do anything that you want."

The both of them stood, the gracefulness of their movements lost by the absence of another set of eyes to witness it, and it was a breath of a second before Esme found herself leaning against Carlisle sturdy frame. "Well, since you're so eager…" She grinned, lifting to stand on the tip of her toes so that her lips might hover over his. "I could use some help moving the furniture in the living room to the sun-room upstairs."

Carlisle began to laugh at her play, wrapping his arms securely around her lithe frame to pick her up in a lighthearted spin. "If rearranging the entire house is what's going to bring you peace who am I to deny you?"

Esme fluttered in an unrehearsed dance as he sat her down, her simple house dress whirling as she spun towards the wall just as the phone began to ring. She reached it before he, her smile still very much set upon her face as she answered, "Hello?"

Carlisle offered her a wink as he turned to grab the potted plant, wrapping one arm around the large container. He turned and awaited her command for direction, but her expression had lost its good-humored mood and he engaged her with silent question as to who was on the other line. "It's Alice." She said softly, covering the receiving with her hand. "She wants to know who's coming for a visit."

"A visit? Carlisle asked, his question ushering in the knock upon the front door of their home. Esme's face twisted into perplexed concern and Carlisle could only shrug as he walked briskly the short distance from the dinning room to the door, opening it casually as if he meant to greet a colleague from work. A shade moved past him, their cloaked figure turning his attention from the door which seemed to shut on its own accord. Carlisle frowned at the intrusion, a growl nestled firmly in his throat as he narrowed his gaze on the trespasser "Who are you; speak and speak quickly."

The cloaked figure rested in a kneeling position, their back hunched as they seem to be shielding something, or perhaps awaiting a moment to turn and pounce. But it was only a moment before they stood, turning to face the presented owner of the home with shaded features.

Esme looked out from the entrance way between rooms and Carlisle looked past the stranger briefly at her, wishing her silently to stay hidden before he settled on the figure as they began to move, drawing their hand slowly to the hood of their attire. "It has been many year, my old friend." arose a voice from the darkness of the cowl before features emerged, causing Carlisle to visibly take a moment to compose himself. "I wish my visit was on more generous terms."


	3. Chapter 2

The weight of the room was crushing, the dark and brooding atmosphere that had descended upon the Cullen home had successfully robbed it of its cheerful ease. Carlisle looked at the man who sat across from him at the dinning room table and thought that, though impossible, he had somehow managed to age in the long years since they last saw each other. Francisco's fine raven locks had lost their sheen, the color having faded into some earthy tone that was unidentified by normal standards. It looked brittle as it fell about his face, framing his gaunt cheeks and dazzling gaze that, for as long as Carlisle starred at, seemed to be abnormal. "Firstly, I owe you apology." Francisco began, lowering his eyes to his folding hands as they rested against the fine and glossy wood of the table. "I realize my entrance into your home was a little unorthodox, but you must understand that I wasn't sure you would greet me as friend before I was given a chance to speak."

"So you thought it best to act as an intruder?" Carlisle frowned calmly, resting back into his seat as Francisco continued.

"As I said, my methods were not well thought out; but please understand that I have not been thinking clearly for a number of days now." Francisco raised his eyes, though his face remained lowered, giving him the appearance of a scolded animal. "Your surprise was more then just friendly recognition."

"Yes. I had heard word that you had turned rouge and were being sought for execution."

Francisco smirked, the comment expected. "I'm sure I can recant what you heard; let me guess. You heard I took to the streets in a madden bloodlust rage and slaked myself on any human that happen to cross my path."

Carlisle shrugged, "Something to that effect."

"I can assure you that those allegations are false." he unfolded his hands, carelessly motioning to the staircase that could be seen from the entrance way into the living room. "If anything I've come to partake in a more….exclusive diet."

"You didn't come to discuss your eating habits." Carlisle stated with an annoyed sigh, the motion urging Francisco to reach his point. "Does your arrival have something to do with-"

"Her name is Liliana, and it has everything to do with her." Francisco spoke flatly, leaving the conversation to momentary silence as he stood to greet Esme and Liliana as they entered the room, his expression shifting from a somber look to one of forced cheer.

Esme forced her own smile as she placed her hands gently upon Liliana's shoulders, urging her forward into the dinning room with a soft nudge. Carlisle took a moment to study the human girl that Francisco seemed to be so concerned over; he had lost the chance in the moment the two were parted, Carlisle having cornered Francisco into the dinning room while Esme had led a visibly shaken Liliana out of the room.

At a glance she appeared as a normal girl. Carlisle guessed her age to be in the mid to late range of teenage years, her average height giving away nothing as to where she might fall in that scale. Chestnut colored hair fell freely to her shoulders, straight, all but the ends where it began to wave lightly; the absent of bangs revealing a star shape scar upon her brow. Liliana's eyes caught Carlisle's gaze as he examined her and, for the second time that evening, he was taken back as one perfectly hazel eye paired with one perfectly amber colored one rose to meet his stare.

"I was right in guessing that she and Rosalie were about the same size." Esme spoke, breaking Carlisle's concentration. "I'm sure she won't mind Liliana borrowing these clothes until you're able to get something new."

"Ah." Francisco smiled, regarding Liliana with a light nod of approval and a slight lift of her chin. "Magnificent. Thank you for your hospitality Esme; I apologize for bringing her here in such a tattered garb that you felt so inclined to clothe her. We are indebted to you."

"It's quite alright." Esme confessed in a happy tone, taking a seat next to Carlisle and offering him composed strength with a touch to his shoulder. "I'm sorry that we don't have any food-"

"It's ok." Liliana's voice arose in a soft beat and she managed a smile as she guided herself into a seat by Francisco's lead. "I realize that you probably wouldn't have any food around the house."

"Perhaps if we had knew of your arrival ahead of time." Carlisle directed the comment more to Francisco, who was not lost to the bite in his words as he retook his own seat.

Liliana looked towards Francisco, her brow wrinkling in a way that alerted both Esme and Carlisle that this information was somewhat new to her; it seemed there were many secrets needing to be revealed by Francisco's tongue.

"You have every right to be upset with me, the both of you." he began, extending his original apology now that Esme was present. "More so when I must expose the true reason of my arrival and the dangers it entails. Please realize that, had I any other option that would spare you and your family this hazard I would exercise it to its fullest before I would have sought you out."

Carlisle's anger began to fade slightly as he realized that, for whatever reason, Francisco was indeed in need of help, and his own compassion, a curse at times, urged him to listen. "Go on."

"Lili is in danger; from the Volturi."

The room drew quiet as death.

* * *

Miles away, beneath the quiet town of Volterra, Italy, a duo of words was spoken from a pair of smiling, feminine lips. "Found them."


	4. Chapter 3

"How fortunate you were to have left when you did, Carlisle; how fortunate that you were allowed to leave at that." Francisco managed a sly of a grin, Carlisle's own listless expression causing him a bit of mirth. "If your heart could not even manage the evils done by the Volturi's mere nature you surely would have wretched at what managed to be birthed from Aro's personal endeavors."

"Aro was always a bit eccentric." Carlisle shrugged, earning him a mocking laugh from his company.

"Eccentric is a term of endearment compared to what I would have chosen, but I digress. You and I were friends as you recall. Aro always expressed that if I could not convince you to feed on humans then the cause was hopeless. Yet…for as sociable as we were, you did not know my place, did you?"

"I never took into consideration what a person's 'place' might be. But if I am to guess I would have to say a painter since…"

Francisco waved his hand, dismissing his assumption. "Yes yes I painted for them, I see you even have one of my portraits still, there, hanging in your entry way. But painting was not the talent that they were interested in and certainly had nothing to do with my place." Francisco paused for a moment, drawing Esme's attention more to the conversation, then continued. "I was a Tracker for them, but of a special breed. I did not lend my power to tracking down rouges or prey; no, Aro placed me in a specialized unit, a handpicked few that were privy to certain secreted information."

"Well, I wasn't one of those it seems. I had no idea."

Francisco smirked again, "Of course you didn't, few did. After all what would it say for the laws that they so earnestly keep if it were to be revealed that the Volturi seek out humans to turn." Carlisle blinked, his eyes narrowing as if he had to think for a moment, replaying Francisco's words within his mind to see if he heard them correctly or not. "That's right, I hunted specifically targeted humans. Humans who displayed potential of having useful gifts for the Volturi to use and exploit. Aro tenderly referred to them as Chalices, cups filled with prospective abilities just waiting to be imbibed."

"How…dreadful." Esme gasped, her gaze reluctantly falling on Liliana who listened as if she had heard the story countless times before.

"And how did you find these humans?" Carlisle inquired, his tone not convinced. "It's not as if a power is blatantly obvious; most do not even appear until after a turning."

"That's not entirely true. Take your daughter-in-law, for example." Carlisle drew silent. "Oh yes, I know about the events that unfolded some years ago. You and your family caused quite a bit of problems for the Volturi."

Esme leaned forward, thinning her lips, "But, as I recall, Aro was surprised by Bella's ability…"

"Surprised that such talent hadn't been located and plucked I'm sure. But, you know, Aro never had much interest in the New World; that's certainly changed thanks in part to your small skirmishes." Francisco leaned back within his chair, letting his long fingers drum upon the table. "But I wouldn't worry, the reach of his Seeker is probably too short to reach here."

"Seeker?"

"Yes, the key to finding these humans. A vampire with the gift of Seeking is able to sense out and identify the latent power of a human. There have only been two Seekers in existence. Selena of the Volturi and…" He paused again, lowering his gaze. "And Sanvina, my wife." Carlisle detected the suffering in Francisco's voice and Liliana dared a touch to his arm before he continued. "I hunted these humans for years for the Volturi. They are usually taken at a young age, when they are and their families are vulnerable, and placed in an orphanage funded by the Volturi. When they reach a proper age they are turned and put to whatever use Aro sees fit to assign. It took me many years to realize that what…what we were doing was wrong. These children had no choice in what was happening to them. We ripped them from the arms of their families, often time leaving them slaughtered in the wake, and then threw them into an eternal life of servitude. We destroyed their dreams, their lives, and all for the sake of strengthening the Volturi's forces and filling Aro's twisted pursuits. I broke away and, in an effort to silence me, I was labeled as a rouge and was to be hunted to be destroyed."

He managed a smile, a brave thing, Carlisle thought, as he recounted the doings of great evils. "But hope was not lost for me. I wandered until I met Sanvina, who had left the Volturi a least a hundred years before our own arrival, and together we created a coalition with others who had a like mind in felling the Volturi. With her Seeker abilities and my own knowledge of how the hunters worked we began to intercept the Volturi's actions. Many a times we came to late, the family had been killed, but in saving the child we created a safe haven; a Sanctuary, where they could be raised safely, hidden away. Of course we had to undertake a different diet and, in my recanting of your strength, we began to feast on animal blood instead."

"It seems like such a heavy burden to have to bear." Esme breathed softly, causing Francisco to smile sadly.

"The burden that many in the Volturi's court was stolen and placed there by my own hand weighs heavier then caring for the orphaned children we saved." He placed his hand on Liliana's shoulder and she looked up at him with a smile. "Lili's family was on holiday in Italy when she was found by Selena. The Volturi managed to stage the murder of her family as if it were an automobile accident; she carries the scars from that still today, ten years later."

"Heterochromia." Carlisle stated off topic. "Your eyes. Sometimes, after severe injury, one eye can shift in color. I had wondered if there was a relationship between them and the scar on your forehead."

Liliana touched the star shaped blemish, "That's probably what happened, yeah. I don't really remember much from before the accident."

"She was nearly lost." Francisco admitted. "But she pulled through beautifully and has lived with us in the Sanctuary since. Until here recently, that is."

The room drew quiet again and Carlisle braved to break it. "Francisco, where are the others? The vampires in your coven, the humans you have saved?"

"Dead. Taken. Turned."

"How did they find you?"

"We had two vampires in our coven that were adept at creating mental shields against a Seeker's reach but, somehow, they were able to find us. The Sanctuary was destroyed. We tried to save as many as we could but only Liliana and I escaped. I believe someone betrayed us." Francisco managed a sigh, "And now you know why we have come. Carlisle you are the only person I feel that I can trust, and the only one that I trust to leave Liliana to care for."

"What?" Both Carlisle and Liliana said, the latter of the two standing. "I'm…I'm not staying here. You're not going to leave me here, I'm coming with you.!"

"My child." Francisco tried to soothe, reaching to smooth her face before she batted his hand away. "It is too dangerous for us to stay together right now. I have no doubt that the Volturi are searching for us and if we both stay in one place together we are sure to be found." She moved away from him and Francisco was swift to grab her by her small shoulders, holding her firm. "I will not fail you. Once I'm sure that I've led their Trackers into a hopeless hunt I'll return for you. But for now I have to entrust you to a man I know has the abilities to care for you."

"They'll kill you!" She began to cry, the emotion paining both Francisco for her tears and Carlisle who felt her earnest fear. "Just like the others, they'll kill you, and then I'll have no one. Please, please you can't leave me alone! I'd rather die with you!"

"Ssshh, dear child." he held her close to his chest, smoothing her chestnut hair down her small back. "If you were to die then all that the others sacrificed themselves for would be for not. That you live is a testament to their lives and the cause they gave them for. I promise you, on my blood, I will not forsake you." Francisco looked past her, holding Carlisle and Esme's stare, pleading, silently.

"Carlisle…" Esme added to Francisco's appeal to which her husband only nodded.

"She is welcomed to stay here." He rose from his seat, his legs shaking from the outpour of raw emotion that flooded the room from Liliana's small form. "You have my word, I won't let any harm come to her."

"Thank you." Francisco sighed in held relief, cradling Liliana's still weeping form against his own. "I'm so sorry for placing you in this danger."

"The Volturi would have come for us at some point for the embarrassment we handed them six year ago, at least I know what to expect." Carlisle reached for the phone, Edward's number playing harmoniously on the keypad as he dialed the numbers. "Stay for a while longer, we need to talk more about Aro's intended intentions. Esme, would you call Alice and have her and Jasper bring home some food for Lili. I'll inform Edward and Bella about what's going on."


	5. Chapter 4

Francisco lingered at Carlisle's request until morning, the two having stayed up the entire night speaking about the hidden truths of Aro and the Volturi's actions. Francisco spoke softly as Liliana laid within his lap, having fallen asleep there clinging to him still. Tears stained his clothing and the vampire could only smooth the hair from her brow as she rested, exhausted both from their flight and the emotions that came with it. When morning light came Francisco moved gracefully to pick her up, the sway not even rousing her as he laid her within one of the Cullen's guest rooms. "This won't be easy for her." Carlisle said in a matter of fact way, informing Francisco of something he already knew.

"No, but she will be safe for now until I can find a way to provide her with shelter permanently. She will adjust, though, she is strong."

"She's only a child."

"She is a young woman." he corrected. "What young woman do you know that isn't headstrong in what she wants?" Francisco smiled, looking within the room at her sleeping form. "Had I known her during my life in Spain I would have painted a thousand frescos of her angelic face to dot the ceilings of the churches. She would have been my greatest muse."

Carlisle offered Francisco a touch to his shoulder, squeezing it lightly to grant him courage. "I think you already consider her that."

"Perhaps; you truly know me all to well, my old friend."

"Where will you go?"

"Back to Italy, to the reaches of their trackers and hunters. They would not think I would leave her alone so far away. If I can keep them moving away from her she should be safe."

"Baiting the lions in their own den? Seems awfully foolish and reckless on your part."

Francisco smirked and laughed in response, patting Carlisle on his back as the two of them walked towards the front door. "As a father yourself surely you understand the lengths a man will go to protect his children. Give my regards to your own, as well as to Esme, along with my thanks." They embraced briefly, as two friends who had only but a fleeting moment of time to catch up on years past might, and then Francisco was gone, off into the cloudy Washington morning.

Carlisle closed the front door with a heavy hand, the digits remaining against the wood for a moment in contemplation before he turned to enter the living room. Esme sat upon the loveseat, a concerned expression showing through her pretty features. "Do you really think everything he said was true? Especially about Aro, I mean."

Carlisle offered her a quiet sigh as he sat next to her, leaning his face into his hands to give it a hard, rousing rub. "I don't know. Aro is peculiar in his interests, and he does covet the powers of others, but…to seek out humans who may have never come to an point where they would be turned seems so…monstrous of him."

"Maybe, but if you remember correctly he was interested in Jane and Alec while they were still human. True he didn't actively involve himself in their lives until the problem came of them almost being burned at the stake. Perhaps these children all come from broken homes."

"We're trying to justify something that is unjustifiable." Carlisle snapped softly, causing Esme to press her lips together tightly into a thin, worried line. It had been so long since she had seen her husband this distressed. "Turning a human should come as a last and final resort, when no other options is available. And to go about collecting them like…like cattle, it's disgusting."

Carlisle stood from his seat and paced towards the fireplace, his folded hand grabbing the mantle, causing the marble to crack. He had to compose himself, his own compassion for the preservation of human life was beginning to overwhelm his sense of thinking. Esme's hand crept onto his shoulder, wrapping around to meet her other that had snaked across his chest. She held him, leaning her small forehead against his strong back in comfort. "Not everyone believes as us."

They stood as such for a moment, Carlisle letting Esme's embrace round in his raging emotions, but eventually he turned to face her, offering her a smile of helpless grin. "Edward and Bella are on their way home. They'll meet with Rosalie and Emmett first,; with this information Bella is concerned for Nessie's well being."

Esme nodded. "Alice and Jasper should be here anytime. She seemed very excited at the prospect of meeting Lili, though, she's having trouble seeing on how she'll react to her friendship."

"Trouble?" Carlisle blinked, but let it pass. "It could have something to do with Liliana's latent ability. Tell her not to worry, if anyone can make someone feel at home it's Alice."

* * *

Aro narrowed his eyes, the darkness pierced easily by his milky, crimson gaze, to fall on a small, blindfolded figure. "Are you absolutely certain of this?"

"Yes." responded a voice, the chirp of its femininity delightful, added so with the news it brought. "They're on route to take a flight from Paris."

Aro smiled, the expression threatening to crack his hard, translucent skin. "Demetri."

From the darkness stepped another, his tall stature meeting Aro's before he offered the elder a respectful bow. "Master?"

"Take a few of the guard and make way to Paris. You'll encounter a pair of old friends. Invite them, with polite courtesy of course, to join us for a…chat."

Demetri raised his lowered head from his bow, his gaze slanted upwards at Aro in twisted reverence as he grinned. "Consider it done, Master."


	6. Chapter 5

Lili awoke to the hum of her own voice, her arms stretching out to grasp the warmth of what sun managed to shine in through the windows and streak across where she lay. It was the warmth that alarmed her though, the absence of Francisco's firm and icy grip of protection causing her to sit up swiftly in alarm, looking about the unfamiliar room. Bare feet patted against the wooden floor as she paced towards the door, opening it with caution to peer out. "Francisco?" she called out for him faintly, almost anticipating to see him standing before her, his calm, smiling face reassuring her that all was well. But he was not there, nor did his voice call for her, and Lili stepped out of the room to search forward, wrapping her arms around herself to calm her anxious chills. He couldn't have left her here, he wouldn't have. Even when he said he would Lili never imagined that he would make good on that remark. How could he? How could he leave her with people she didn't know in a world that she could no longer trust?

"Francisco?" She called again, this time her voice finding its strength to reach further then her own reach, and it was rewarded with a sound of flighty steps racing up the stairs to greet her. A pixie of a woman appeared and Lili stepped back in surprise as she found herself being reached for in some attempt at a hug.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she chirped, offering Lili the most sincerest of smiles in attempt to put her at ease. "I'm just excited to see you up and about finally. I'm Alice." She extended her hand, which Lili looked at for a breath before she, cautiously, accepted in a shake. "Are you hungry? We can go down into the kitchen and fix up something-"

"Where's Francisco?"

Alice blinked, drawing in her lower lip in thought before realization struck her. "Oh, well, you might want to talk to Carlisle about-" Lili walked past her before she had finished, remembering the steps that Esme had led her down the day before until she reached the dinner room where Esme and another young man sat.

Esme looked up from their conversation, standing to greet Lili. "Did you sleep well, are you hungry?"

"N-no. No. I mean, I-" Lili drew in a breath, steeling herself, "I just want to know where Francisco is."

Esme tried to retain her smile, though Lili noticed that it began to slip gently in the corners of her lips; it seemed she had been expecting the question but had yet devised a way to answer it. "Liliana." The tone of her voice was motherly, a tone that Lili felt she had known but couldn't remember. "Francisco left this morning. He would have woke you to say good-bye but he thought it best just to let you sleep." Lili said nothing and Jasper looked past her to see Alice standing at the base of the staircase, fidgeting from the uneasy silence that had descended. "Why don't you sit down."

Time fluttered around Lili in a clouded daze and she scarcely managed to make introduction with Jasper as Esme went about preparing her something to eat. The growl and pain of an empty stomach was shadowed by the pain and emptiness she felt within her own heart. She was appreciative of the Cullen's gracious hospitality; Francisco had told her that, of all the men he had ever known, none could compare in compassion of the heart next to that of Carlisle, and he assumed that those he surrounded himself with were the same. But kindness could only soothe a wound so much, something that Carlisle knew as both a physician and a man of wisdom.

Carlisle appeared with that though nestled within his mind, offering Lili a genuine and handsome smile as he sat a pile of neatly folded bed sheets onto the table. "I see our guest has finally woke up."

A light clatter sounded as Esme sat a plate before Lili, the sandwich shifting its bread in the move so that Lili had to straighten it before taking a bite. The flavors danced upon her tongue in a symphony of zest and she realized just how hungry she was as she took one hastily bite after another. Her eagerness to finally eat seemed to put the parent Cullens at ease and all sat around, watching her devour her food hastily; a healthy appetite was certainly a good sign. "Liliana-"

"You can just call me Lili." She managed to say between bites.

Carlisle smiled, "Lili. I know this may seem all a little rushed but I want you to know that, as needed, our hour is your home."

"Thank you." Lili replied politely before wiping her mouth on her borrowed attire. "You're all very kind for being so accommodating." Sandwich finished Lili look at her plate and flexed a single digit, pushing a large crumb of breast crust around the ceramic surface. "Did…did he say where he was going?"

"No." Carlisle replied, the lie bitter upon his tongue, a price he was willing to pay to spare her any more grief. "Only that he was going to try and lead anyone who might be following you far away from your actual location. I have no doubt he'll check in on your constantly."

"He took a phonebook with him." Alice confirmed, beaming cheerfully as she scooted her chair closer to Lili's. "So I'm sure he'll be calling in a day or so. Hey, how about after you're done eating we go down into town and go shopping! I wouldn't want to see Rosalie's face when she comes home and finds you wearing her clothes, oh!" Alice shook her hands as Lili's face listed her concern. "It's not your fault! She's just bad-tempered most of the time. How does that sound?"

"Uh…."

"Great!" Alice cheered, dancing to her feet in a whirl of fancy steps. "We're going to have so much fun!"


End file.
